Do you drink coffee because you are a smart (and also very attractive and funny and an all-around catch) or are you smart because you drink coffee? Itโs a real chicken-and-the-egg situation weโve got going on here, and new research has only further complicated the issue. According to Inc, studies into the cognitive effects of coffee show that consuming your favorite beverageโas well as tea and chocolateโdoes in fact make you smarter.
And itโs not just one study. Multiple explorations into the neuroscience of caffeine have found a variety of ways that coffee and caffeine brain health and resilience. One study, a joint effort between the National Institute of Aging and Johns Hopkins University, corroborates something weโve reported previously here on Sprudge: caffeine shows signs of protecting the brain from Alzheimerโs and Parkinson’s. This is due to methylxanthinesโa โclass of chemical compound found in coffeeโโthat promotes โsustained cognitive performance and can protect neurons against dysfunction and death.โ The study also found that xanthine metabolites, the chemicals produced when your brain processes caffeine, โmay contribute to [coffeeโs] beneficial effects.โ
Adding to these findings, a meta-analysis of 11 previous studies published in the World Journal of Surgical Oncology found that coffee and tea reduce not only the risk of Alzheimerโs but of brain cancer as well.
Lastly, a study performed at Okayama University finds that coffee compounds Caffeic acid (CA) and chlorogenic acid (CGA) have antioxidative properties, specifically on the glial gland and โprevents rotenone-induced neurodegeneration in both the brain and myenteric plexus.โ Inc breaks it down into layperson terms: โcaffeine makes your brain more flexible and resilient.โ But if you donโt believe them, just look at this happy little mouse from the actual Okayama University study.
So if you want to be S-M-R-T like me, make sure you are drinking lots of C-O-F-E.
Zac Cadwaladerย is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas.ย Read more Zac Cadwaladerย on Sprudge.